


New House Pet

by deikus_is_hellbound



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Homestuck - Freeform, Petstuck, grandlalonde
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-09
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 21:31:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/918244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deikus_is_hellbound/pseuds/deikus_is_hellbound
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adopting pet trolls is a trend quickly becoming popular. Rose Lalonde had no interest in adopting one herself, seeing no particular appeal to the habit ever since her childhood pet had passed, but when Dave drags her into the store to adopt his own little troll Rose sees a potential candidate strike her fancy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New House Pet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [keresWings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keresWings/gifts).



> Ahhh okay so this is my first homestuck fanfiction, and also my first fanfiction on AO3 so wish me luck! Enjoy~

      It was a stereotypically cold and dreary night when Rose Lalonde, girl of twenty, walked into the pettroll adoption agency. It was maybe thirty minutes before closing time, and the workers were all run dry from the long hours of the day. Rose wasn’t quite sure why she was so compelled by pet trolls – actually that wasn’t it. They were cute at best, but certainly not desirable. No, Rose Lalonde wanted a _specific_ pet troll. The first day she’d stepped into the adoption agency was when Jade Harley, an old friend, had dragged her inside to inspect the newly printed ‘ _Help Wanted’_ sign strung up in the glass window. The only prominent portion of the memory was the business of the scene – people filing in the back to check out the new petroll admissions, and also that one flickering light in the back corner of the room.  The second time, which had been far more notable, was when her other friend, Dave Strider, had coerced her into coming with him to ‘ironically’ adopt his own little buddy – that Rose knew for a fact Dave needed to replace the newfound absence of his elder brother. Now that he’d moved into his own apartment he’d quickly become lonely, and so Dave had subconsciously picked the most bothersome troll possible to perhaps attempt to mimic the oddity that was his elder brother. It had a nasty attitude, and clicked what Rose would guess to be no less than colorful obscenities at Dave as soon as he’d picked it up. Dave of course claimed that he’d break the thing’s nasty little attitude, but that was hardly the truth. Either way it didn’t matter, because that day she had seen them bring in what Rose considered to be her new favorite pet troll.

      He was bigger than most trolls – stockier. He probably was tall enough to just reach her shoulder – if one didn’t count his ridiculous horns swiveling up from his head. He had scars, of course, too many to count, but there was no way he had ever been abused – not on his life. Those were battle scars. Beneath that fluffy mane of hair was a set of striking purple eyes – the kind that tell a story you can’t read; the kind of story Rose Lalonde instantly was interested in.

      She had worked herself over trying to find ways not to adopt him: she didn’t need any company, she couldn’t afford it, it was too much to handle right now, ultimately giving her more and more excuses to hide behind. Some were outright ridiculous – and in that moment she knew that she was fooling herself. She was going to buy the troll. It had been obvious since she’d first seen him.

      And now here she was, a whole two weeks of stalling later, around nine pm, hands stuffed into her pockets and nose burrowed into her knit purple scarf as Jade looked at her knowingly from behind the counter.

      “You want the troll now?” She asked, giving her that goofy bucked-toothed grin Rose had grown to know well. Rose paused, one last time, one last moment of consideration to have the opportunity to back out. Her eyes graze over the room. The walls were a white creamy color to accent the speckled tiles and forest green carpet, paintings of baby pet trolls, palm leafed plants peppering the shelves and floors in fancy little pots.  This was her last chance… but who was she kidding?

      “Yes, of course, can I see him?” She knew they hadn’t given him a name yet – and apparently all the other trolls were afraid of him. She was honestly not surprised, with his sheer size and seemingly rough exterior. She knew that it couldn’t all be bad though.

      Jade lifted the counter lid so Rose could step into the back room – at this time of night all the trolls were either put away in kennels, or stowed away in their proper bedding – some breeds requiring more than just a kennel. Her troll was kept alone in the back, being more humanoid than some of the others. He had a room, with a small bed to fit his stocky limbs. The hall was mostly quiet, slack the few wines and snuffles of trolls who just didn’t sleep as soon as they were laid down. Rose follows Jade’s mass of black hair down the hall to the last door on the right. The door was scratched up as if claws had been raked down it, but only towards the edge, as if a troll had grabbed onto the edge in a last ditch effort to not get locked inside. Jade opened up the door, flicking the light on inside as the two of them filed into the room. Immediately the fluffy ball of hair popped up from the bed, eyes locking onto the both of them as a rolling clicking noise bubbled from the troll’s chest. It was almost menacing, though Rose was more amused than anything. Jade gave him a comforting smile, kneeling down to his level and cooing to coax the troll from bed.  Rose watches with a detached gaze from the back of the room, edges of her mouth curling up beneath her scarf.

      Oh yes. Yes this troll was now hers. This had been the correct decision, she decides. Correct decision indeed.

      “Hi there,”She greets him cheerfully, motioning him forward. The troll merely looks up at her grumpily, nestling into the fluffy cushion of the bed he’d curled up on. Jade ‘tsks’, fists resting in the curve of her his as she puffs her cheeks out defiantly. “Hey mister! Get your lazybones up!” She insists, crouching down to his level. Jade gives a tug beneath his arms, trying to coax him out of bed, but the troll proves to be quite stubborn and snaps at her with a low growl, making the girl jerk back.

      Jade eventually gets him up – and he’s looking at Rose perplexedly, confused head tilted to the side ever so slightly. His unruly hair brought a new meaning to the phrase ‘bed head’ and his teeth stuck out adorably from his mouth, though remarkably sharp. Rose wiggled her fingers at him, to which the troll merely snuffled and rose onto his two back feet, slightly hunched and tail flicking back and forth across the floor. The tail was thin toward the end, with a tuft of hair capping it off, just as unruly as the rest of his shaggy mop.

      “Come on – I have to close in a few minutes buddy! I can’t have any overtime this week.” Jade complains as she tries to tug him from the room. Stubborn as he was, the troll refused to move, curling his lips at her as a predatory growl rumbled in his chest. Rose finally decides to intervene, and ambles over to the pair. She kneels down – Jade about to protest and her troll growling louder as his territory is breeched by yet another man-best creature. She takes no heed, offering her hand out to him as a peace offering.

      “I wouldn’t do that Rose –“ Jade starts, but soon cuts off as the troll looks at it, a bit confused. He looks from Rose, down to her hand, then back to Rose, before pawing at it uselessly. He obviously is not sure what to make of her little display, but as her hand hangs limply when he knocks at it, the message that she means him no harm is received. He snuffles at her, seemingly a grumble she takes it. She chuckles. This will take work it seems.

      Eventually Jade does get the large troll from the room and into the lobby – he seems quite reluctant and sluggish to leave the warmth of his bed, but Rose can hardly blame him. It would probably take a couple days for him to settle into the apartment anyway, and she didn’t think he’d be too friendly until he got used to the place…granted he doesn’t absolutely hate her for some inexplicable reason she couldn’t hope to understand. Jade fills out the paperwork, asking for signatures here, initials there, but all in all Rose forks over the cash and places a gentle hand on his back – leading him out into the rain and to her car.

      Quite reluctantly, and with more than quite a few hisses and snaps, Rose gets the troll – she really needed to name him – into the passenger’s seat and buckled in. She plops down into the driver’s seat, looking over at her new companion for a few brief, silent moments. His curly, unruly hair was slightly limp at the long ends from the rain, and he was shivering from the cold, very distraught from this new development and clearly blaming her for the mishap – which was partially true. There is only so much one can do about the weather however, and she was just calling it tough cookies because he’d have to get over it. The troll shoots her a bit of a rumbling clicking noise, spitefully. Rose merely smiles at the creature, reaching over and patting his damp head.

      She had done it. She’d gotten her pet troll.

      Hoping his claws don’t penetrate the leather seats; she peels out of the parking lot and heads for home, utterly satisfied with the outcome of the evening.

 

***

      The next two days were mostly uneventful. Rose had declared his name was going to be Fenrir, and about the only other interesting development was that aside from Fenrir trying to claim her bed as his, he had taken quite a liking to her couch. She supposed that until she got him a proper place to sleep the couch would be perfectly fine. However, the real trouble began when Rose decided that it was time to make Fenrir take a bath – to which he vehemently protested. She had to literally haul ass to get him into the tub, water letting off a pleasant little steam, but not one that felt too warm to be comfortable. With as cold as the wood floors were she figured that he might appreciate the warmth.

      She was mistaken, apparently. As soon as he touched water he sputtered, feet scrabbling against the slick surface of the tub. He lurches forward, hands catching the rim frantically with an odd mix of a growl and a yowl. Rose helps steady him, and she forces the large troll to plop down fully into the warm water, to which the troll seemed to huff. 

      “Now now,” Rose chastises. “You’ll be done in just a few minutes. We’ve got to scrub all that dirt from behind your ears sometime.” She reminds him, though she doubts the troll had ever had a bath in his life, from the state of his hair. Fenrir snuffles at her in rebellion to this ultimatum, but he seemed to understand that the blonde was not taking no for an answer. He blows a puff of air at her, shaking his ratty mop. Rose smiles. A sign of compliance. It seemed they were going to get somewhere after all. “Good boy,” She says satisfactorily, patting the top of his head in approval.

      Rose takes a plastic cup, filling it with water, and dumping it over the troll’s messy, long hair. He growls, but Rose scratches his scalp lightly to get him calm again.

     “Shh, Fenrir, it will be over soon dear.” She assures him. “Just let me scrub you down.” She murmurs, a bit more to herself than to him. The blonde squirts shampoo into her palm – a bit copiously – and massages the syrupy substance into his stringy hair, suds bubbling up over his thick skin. “Might want to close your eyes,” She mentions, and his violet orbs flicker up to her, looking like he was just going to disregard the statement altogether. Rose pretends not to notice, scrubbing at his scalp. Fenrir seems to rethink the advice though, because he obediently snaps his eyes shut without so much as a growl of protest when the suds leak onto the skin of his forehead. “Good boy,” She coos, scratching her nails lightly into his scalp. In response, Fenrir bumps her hand, rubbing up against her carefully filed nails. A small vibration emits from him, she can feel it in her fingertips –

      Oh, he was purring. How precious.

      In her lapse of judgement the soft scratches stop, and Fenrir growls, insisting upon her attention once more.  Rose doesn’t feel the need to say anything, but complies, using both hands to rub small circles into the troll’s scalp.

      Note to self : Fenrir likes his head scratched, use often.

      She smiles to herself. For all that menacing exterior, he was adorable.

      The bath continues. Rose rinses out the shampoo, moves to conditioner and bodywash. She scrubs him down, earning a few yelps of protest and one tail flick to the face, but ultimately the deed was done and the plug was pulled- water coursing down the opened drain. Rose snatches the spare towel from the counter, and helps Fenrir out of the tub – he slips as his paw like feet hit the hardwood, but Rose helps steady him – maybe she should get a rug? – and towels him off. Fenrir encases himself in the towel, and honestly she can’t see the look he’s currently giving her, because that raggedy hair of his is still hanging limp in his eyes.

      “Fenrir, come on,” She puts a light hand on his back. “Let’s dry your hair off.” Rose leads him out of the small bathroom, down the record setting short hallway and into to the living room where Fenrir plops down into the very center of the floor, pulling his towel closer around his shivering body. He was by no means skinny but Rose could make out the curve of his bones  - though most was covered in excessive slabs of muscle. She sighs at the trail of water droplets that his hair had created- really she’d almost want to trim it but somehow that just seems wrong and she figures he might try to bite her hand off if she tried. The girl situates herself behind him, tugging the towel out from underneath his butt – much to his chagrin.  He huffs, scooting back against her to keep warm. Rose closes her knees into his sides, rubbing a bit to get him warm while she towels his hair off. It’s difficult to work around his horns but she manages, getting it dry enough to where it’s not dripping wet at least.

      “See Fenrir? That wasn’t too bad, huh?” She asks rhetorically, to which he bumps his head back against her chest to say ‘ _Yes, human it was terrible.’_ She snickers, burying her nose into his stringy hair. “You’ll get over it.” He snuffles, shaking his head in attempts to get the strands from his face – futile. She combs his bangs back with her fingers, pulling them gently towards her – maybe… “I’ll be right back.” She flips the towel over her shoulder, and rises,  russing up his hair as she retreats back to the bathroom. She drops the towel over the hardwood, mopping up the breadcrumb trail of water with her foot. She kicks the towel up into her hand as she reaches the bathroom – water seeping up into her sock. She hangs the towel over the rack, and digs up a brush that she didn’t use too much from the drawer, along with a few clips that she also didn’t really use anymore. Headbands were magical things. Rose retreats back to the living room, flicking the light off on her way and plopping down next to a curled up Fenrir.

      “Can you sit up for me?” She asks him gently. Fenrir hardly moves from the floor, only responding with a quick grunt. Rose purses her lips and worms her hands beneath his hunched up form, forcing him to sit back up with a growl of protest. “Shhh,” She consoles him. “I’m just going to brush your hair and then you can go to sleep all you want to.” Fenrir snuffs, reclining back against Rose irritably. She works from the back, gently easing the knots out of his hair as they come. They weren’t too bad after being washed, and after Rose got the bad ones out Fenrir actually seemed to enjoy having his hair brushed, shoulder blades shifting as he huddled close to the human girl.  Rose carefully works through his hair, bit by bit, until she finally gets all the tangles free and combs his bangs back, clipping them down between his horns with a small little poof at the front. He paws at it vaguely, but doesn’t seem overly concerned about it, especially since now he can see until his hair dries and fluffs up again.

      “You’re all done now, Fenrir.”  She taps his shoulder, but he just gives the hardwood floors a good thump of his tail, not budging. Rose sighs good naturedly, slipping her arms over his shoulders and leaning back against the foot of the couch.  Apparently he was comfortable, and wasn’t going to move. Rose flicks on the television sitting atop a stacked pair of miniature dressers, giving Fenrir a loving scratch now and again as her favorite scheduled programs run.  After a moment’s decision Rose lifts him up – Fenrir turning to glower at her – until she crawls up on the couch and pats a spot for him to follow and curl up with her. He blinks his glowing violet eyes at her, before hopping up with her, curling into her chest. Rose stretches out behind him on the plush couch. Both of them sink into the overused cushions , Fenrir sprawled out and consuming most of the space and Rose pressed against the back of the couch with her head on the arm. It’s about an hour and a half later when Rose’s soft scritches lull Fenrir to sleep, the rolling against her chest deepening considerably. The girl sets a sleep timer on the television and decides to nod off herself, having a perfectly good time sharing cuddles with her new pet. 


End file.
